


Thanks to Insomnia

by konfoz



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, College, College AU, College Student Ben Solo, College Student Rey (Star Wars), F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-16
Updated: 2019-08-16
Packaged: 2020-09-01 23:56:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20266639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/konfoz/pseuds/konfoz
Summary: A drunk Ben visits an annoyed Rey in the middle of the night





	Thanks to Insomnia

**Author's Note:**

> reposted as a separate work  
unedited

“Tonight is going to be different.”

It was a mantra that she repeated to herself every night, regardless of the fact that it usually never came true. 

Rey sighed, throwing her arms out from underneath the covers. In her exasperation to sleep, she tossed and turned for another 10 minutes before she gave an aggravated growl. Insomnia is not a welcome figure in the life of a college student. Balancing work with studies is incredibly taxing and with little-to-no sleep at night, it made it just  _ that  _ much harder to concentrate during the day.

It is an ever-present adversary in her life, leeching off her energy and her time. She knew that she probably needed some sort of professional help but vehemently refused it, much to Finn’s disappointment. The stereotype of a broke college student isn’t actually so far off from the truth.

Rey flipped on her stomach, hair splayed haphazardly over her face and she breathed out a breath of air. She turned over to her left to star at the electronic clock on her nightstand:

3:03 A.M.

With a mental roll of her eyes, she sat up to fluff her pillows for the fiftieth time and suddenly found comfort.

Yes. 

Tonight she would fall asleep in peace. 

Out of nowhere a bout of fatigue hit Rey, and she imagined all the stress and tension flowing out of her body. Just before she was going to slip out of consciousness, she heard knocks on her door.

_ Ignore it.  _

The sound stopped, but she could hear shuffling from the other side of the door as she began to wake. She could feel her drowsiness slipping away from her as the knocking started up again.

_ No! _

Realizing that the perpetrator wasn’t going to be deterred and that all traces of sleep have vanished, she threw the covers off and stormed to the door. Maybe she should have covered up a little more, considering that she was only wearing an oversized  _ Starkiller _ band t-shirt without a bra. However, at the moment, Rey was too annoyed to care.

She threw open the door and was met face-to-face with a chest. The scent of alcohol permeated from the hulking figure in front of her, which caused her to scrunch up her nose.

It was none other than Phasma’s best friend, the guy who grinds her gears to no extent, Ben Solo.

And he was  _ drunk _ .

His eyes blearily regarded her, and his mouth stretched into a smile as he swayed precariously on his feet.

Rey crossed her arms, put off by the interruption to her sleep, “Hello Ben.”

He blinked slowly. Even hunched over his figure towered over hers, and Rey couldn’t help it as her eyes took him in. The dim light from the hallway illuminated his body, making it look like he was bathed in a yellow halo. It was obvious that he had come back from a kickback or a party, but she had no idea why he decided to pay her a visit.

How did he even know which dorm room belonged to her?

“Can I help you?” She said after he didn’t provide any indication that her heard her initial statement.

He put up a hand, almost as if to silence her or place it on the doorframe, but he let it drop. Shaking his head to wake himself up, he slowly asked, “Do we have class tomorrow?”

Rey first met Ben Solo in Intro to American Politics. It was a basic-level class to complete a General Education requirement, even if she was a Mechanical Engineering major. When he let her share his textbook on the first day, she thought she could become acquainted with him.

Until he opened his mouth.

Ben Solo is the most insufferable man she has ever met.

It seems that his major is Political Science, so he knows the lessons like the back of his hand. He isn’t afraid to argue with students or the professor, and his aura of smug satisfaction made Rey dislike him by the day. It resulted in many disagreements between them, and even though Rey doesn’t know the first thing about the political system, she’s adept at getting a point across.

Unfortunately, his arrogant and patronizing way of speaking doesn’t deter from his looks.

Yes, he is attractive, Rey can be the first to admit. However, his irritating nature always seems to overshadow his physical qualities.

She answered, “Our class finished last semester,” with an eyebrow raised.

Ben was much too drunk for this conversation, and Rey still didn’t know the reason for this unexpected visit. Whatever he originally came here for, it was probably gone in the drunken haze.

Nonetheless, she tried to pull the answer out of him anyway, “What are you doing here?” She changed the subject, hyper-aware of her lack of clothing and the time they’ve spent standing outside her door.

He smiled in a way that made the corners of his eyes crinkle. “I wanted to see you.”

Her ex-classmate is also a notorious flirt. Never to her, of course. They only exchange heated arguments and scathing glares.

A line appeared between Rey’s brows, and her mouth set in a hard line, “If that’s all then, I’d like to go back to sleep now.”

Right as she was about to close the door completely, she was met with some heavy resistance.

“Ben, I’m serious-”

It took her a few seconds to notice that the man in front of her room wasn’t trying to halt the closure. Taking a quick peek outside, Rey realized that he  _ passed out  _ against her door.

Now she was really at a loss. Her arms started to tire out quickly from holding the door closed, but she knew if she closed it then Ben would probably collapse in the hallway outside. However, if she opened it to help, then he would fall on  _ her. _

Rey did not want to deal with taking care of her mortal enemy, but she only had a few seconds left of carrying his entire bodyweight to make a decision.

She just hoped that the decision she came to would have been reciprocated if it was her instead.

Bracing herself, Rey opened the door the rest of the way and quickly maneuvered herself to catch Ben’s torso. She let out a puff of air as his face fell to her neck and his arms draped around her shoulders. Dragging him in, she pulled him with all her might to her twin-sized bed. He was spread awkwardly on it, and his legs dangled off of the end of the mattress, but this was the best way she could place him the recovery position. After shutting the door, the room was shrouded in darkness.

Now that Ben occupied her bed, she didn’t have a place to sleep for the next four hours. Even if she did, she doubted that she could sleep with how aware she was of Ben’s presence in her room.

In her bed.

Rey’s face started to heat up, so she turned away from him and silently padded to the bathroom. She came back to the foot of her bed with a damp cloth before her mind caught up with her actions.

Was she really going to do this? Help the man that infuriated her to no extent and randomly showed up drunk to her door? She stared at him and rubbed her forehead with her free hand.

Then, Ben started to shift around and broke out in a cold sweat. Guess he made up her mind for her.

Suddenly timid, the girl sat on the edge and moved a few raven-haired strands away from his face. Although he wasn’t moving around anymore, he was still sweating. With a gentle touch, Rey started to dab his forehead with the cloth. She did this for a few minutes until she was satisfied with her work and his breathing evened out again.

Remembering that she borrowed one of Finn’s old tees after a dude spilled beer on her at a concert, she retrieved the item from her closet and placed it on her bedside table. Next to it, she included a couple of painkillers and a glass of water in case he woke up after she went to class.

Because she only had a few hours left until then, she decided to sit at her desk and get some studying in. Yet as soon as she turned on the desk lamp and opened the pages of her textbook, her vision started to blur. The feeling of her cheek against the book was the last thing that was processed before exhaustion hit her.

* * * * *

When Rey woke up her alarm, she noticed that she developed a crick in her neck and the man that previously preoccupied the bed was gone, along with the painkillers and shirt. It was almost as if he was never there, except for faint traces of his smell and that of alcohol.

Just as she started to get dressed and ready for the day while ignoring the twinge in her chest, Rey’s phone buzzed from its charging spot on the floor.

She frowned when she read the name on the screen, one she did not recognize, but it slowly transformed into a small smile when it registered that he must have put his information into her phone before he left. A blush stained Rey’s cheeks after rereading the message three times over:

**From: The Biggest Drunken Idiot in All Existence** ****  
  


**Thanks for taking care of me last night, and I’m sorry for knocking out like that. I’ll make it up to you Princess, I promise.**


End file.
